Chronological
The Death of John the Baptist(A)
14 At that time Herod the tetrarch,[a] hearing about the fame of Jesus, 2 told his servants, “This is John the Baptist! He has been raised from the dead, and that’s why these miracles are being done by him.” 3 Herod had arrested John, bound him with chains, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s[b] wife.
4 John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 Although Herod[c] wanted to kill him, he was afraid of the crowd, since they regarded John[d] as a prophet.
6 But when Herod’s birthday celebration was held, the daughter of Herodias danced before the guests.[e] She pleased Herod 7 so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked for. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me, right here on a platter, the head of John the Baptist.” 9 Under pressure because of his promises and his assembled guests, the king ordered that it be done. 10 So he sent word[f] and had John beheaded in prison. 11 His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she took it to her mother. 12 When John’s[g] disciples came, they carried off the body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
Jesus Feeds More than Five Thousand People(B)
13 When Jesus heard this, he left that place and went[h] by boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of it and followed him on foot from the neighboring[i] towns. 14 When he got out of the boat,[j] he saw a large crowd. He had compassion for them and healed their sick. 15 When evening had come, the disciples went to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and it’s already late. Send the crowds away so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
16 But Jesus told them, “They don’t need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 They told him, “We don’t have anything here except five loaves of bread and two fish.”
18 He said, “Bring them to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed them. Then he broke the loaves in pieces and gave them to his disciples, and the disciples gave them[k] to the crowds. 20 All of them ate and were filled. Then the disciples[l] picked up what was left of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 Now those who had eaten were about 5,000 men, besides women and children.
Jesus Walks on the Sea(C)
22 Jesus[m] immediately had the disciples get into a boat and cross to the other side ahead of him, while he sent the crowds away. 23 After dismissing the crowds, he went up on a hillside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. 24 By this time the boat was in the middle of the sea[n] and was being battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. 25 Shortly before dawn,[o] Jesus[p] came to them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and cried out, “It’s a ghost!” And they screamed in terror.
27 “Have courage!” Jesus immediately told them. “It’s me. Stop being afraid!”
28 Peter answered him, “Lord, if it’s you, order me to come to you on the water.”
29 Jesus[q] said, “Come on!” So Peter got down out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came[r] to Jesus.
30 But when he noticed the strong[s] wind, he was frightened. As he began to sink, he shouted, “Lord, save me!”
31 At once Jesus reached out his hand, caught him, and asked him, “You who have so little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 As they got into the boat, the wind stopped blowing.
33 Then the men in the boat began to worship Jesus,[t] saying, “You certainly are the Son of God!”
Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret(D)
34 They crossed over and came ashore at Gennesaret. 35 When the men of that place recognized Jesus,[u] they sent word[v] throughout that region and brought him everyone who was sick. 36 They kept begging him to let them touch just the tassel of his garment, and everyone who touched it was completely healed.
Jesus is Rejected at Nazareth(A)
6 Jesus[a] left that place and went back to his hometown,[b] and his disciples followed him. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were utterly amazed. “Where did this man get all these things?” they asked. “What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What great miracles are being done by his hands! 3 This is the builder,[c] the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon, isn’t it? His sisters are here with us, aren’t they?” And they were offended by him.
4 Jesus had been telling them, “A prophet is without honor only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own home.” 5 He couldn’t perform a miracle there except to lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went around to the villages and continued teaching.
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve(B)
7 He called the Twelve and began to send them out two by two, giving them authority over unclean spirits. 8 He instructed them to take nothing along on the trip except a walking stick—no bread, no traveling bag, nothing in their moneybag. 9 They could wear sandals but not take along an extra shirt.[d] 10 He told them repeatedly, “Whenever you go into a home, stay there until you leave that place. 11 If any place will not welcome you and the people[e] refuse to listen to you, when you leave, shake its dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went and preached that people[f] should repent. 13 They also kept driving out many demons and anointing with oil many who were sick, and healing them.
The Death of John the Baptist(C)
14 King Herod heard about this, because Jesus’[g] name had become well-known. He was[h] saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead! That’s why he is able to do these miracles.”
15 Others were saying, “He is Elijah.”
Still others were saying, “He is a prophet like one of the other[i] prophets.”
16 But when Herod heard about it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised,” 17 because Herod himself had sent men who arrested[j] John, bound him with chains, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom Herod[k] had married.
18 John had been telling Herod, “It’s not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias bore a grudge against John[l] and wanted to kill him. But she couldn’t do it 20 because Herod was afraid of John. He knew that John[m] was a righteous and holy man, and so he protected him. Whenever he listened to John,[n] he did much of what he said.[o] In fact, he liked listening to him.
21 An opportunity came during Herod’s birthday celebration, when he gave a banquet for his top officials, military officers, and the most important people of Galilee. 22 When the daughter of Herodias[p] came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. So the king told the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” 23 He swore with an oath to her, “I’ll give you anything you ask for, up to half of my kingdom.”
24 So she went out and asked her mother, “What should I ask for?”
Her mother[q] replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”
25 Immediately the girl[r] hurried back to the king with her request, “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
26 The king was deeply saddened, yet because of his oaths and his guests he was reluctant to refuse her. 27 So without delay the king sent a soldier and ordered him to bring John’s[s] head. The soldier[t] went and beheaded him in prison. 28 Then he brought John’s[u] head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When John’s[v] disciples heard about this, they came and carried off his body and laid it in a tomb.
Jesus Feeds More than Five Thousand People(D)
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught. 31 He told them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest for a while,” because so many people were coming and going[w] that they didn’t even have time to eat. 32 So they went away in a boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33 But when many people saw them leave and recognized them, they hurried on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 When he got out of the boat,[x] he saw a large crowd. He had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.
35 When it was quite late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and it’s already late. 36 Send the crowds[y] away so that they can go to the neighboring farms and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.”
They asked him, “Should we go and buy 200 denarii[z] worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”
38 He asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have? Go and see.”
They found out and told him, “Five loaves[aa] and two fish.”
39 Then he ordered them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed them. Then he broke the loaves in pieces and kept giving them to his disciples to set before the people.[ab] He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 All of them ate and were filled. 43 Then the disciples[ac] picked up twelve baskets full of leftover bread and fish. 44 There were 5,000 men who had eaten the loaves.
Jesus Walks on the Sea(E)
45 Jesus[ad] immediately had his disciples get into a boat and cross to Bethsaida ahead of him, while he sent the crowd away. 46 After saying goodbye to them, he went up on a hillside to pray. 47 When evening had come, the boat was in the middle of the sea, while he was alone on the land. 48 He saw that his disciples[ae] were straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn[af] he came to them, walking on the sea. He intended to go up right beside them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and began to scream. 50 All of them saw him and were terrified. Immediately he told them, “Have courage! It’s me. Stop being afraid!”
51 Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped blowing. The disciples[ag] were utterly astounded, 52 because they didn’t understand the significance of the loaves. Instead, their hearts were hardened.
Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret(F)
53 When they had crossed over, they came ashore at Gennesaret and anchored the boat. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, the people recognized Jesus.[ah] 55 They ran all over the countryside and began carrying the sick on their mats to any place where they heard he was. 56 Wherever he went, whether into villages, towns, or farms, people[ai] would place their sick in the marketplaces and beg him to let them touch even the tassel of his garment, and everyone who touched it was healed.
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve(A)
9 Jesus[a] called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. 2 Then he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them, “Don’t take anything along on your trip—no walking stick, traveling bag, bread, money, or even an extra shirt.[b] 4 When you visit a home and stay there, and go out from there, 5 if people don’t welcome you, when you leave that city, shake its dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 So they left and went from village to village, spreading the good news and healing diseases everywhere.
Herod Tries to See Jesus(B)
7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard about everything that was happening. He was puzzled because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, 8 by others that Elijah had appeared, and by still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life. 9 Herod said, “I beheaded John. But who is this man I’m hearing so much about?” So Herod[c] kept trying to see Jesus.[d]
Jesus Feeds More than Five Thousand People(C)
10 The apostles came back and told Jesus[e] everything they had done. Then he took them away with him privately to a city called Bethsaida. 11 But the crowds found out about this and followed him. He welcomed them and began to speak to them about the kingdom of God and to heal those who needed healing.
12 As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away to the neighboring villages and farms so they can rest and get some food, because we are here in a deserted place.”
13 But he told them, “You give them something to eat.”
They replied, “We have nothing more than five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all these people.”
14 Now there were about 5,000 men. So he told his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about 50.” 15 They did this and got all of them seated. 16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed them. Then he broke the loaves in pieces and kept giving them to the disciples to pass on to the crowd. 17 All of them ate and were filled. When they collected the leftover pieces, there were twelve baskets.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.